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Fever-Sun rematch had everything: A Caitlin Clark injury, logo 3, technical and close game

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Fever-Sun rematch had everything: A Caitlin Clark injury, logo 3, technical and close game

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INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever lost a heartbreaker Monday night, falling 88-84 to the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Although this was the most encouraging game of the Fever’s season, they fall to 0-4. Indiana will start a three-game West Coast road trip with a game against Seattle on Wednesday night.

Caitlin Clark unfazed following injury: ‘Every basketball player has an ankle injury’

Here are three observations:

Fever nearly pull it off

One of the biggest things coach Christie Sides emphasized in the preseason was closing out close games. The Fever were a part of 26 clutch games last season, and went just 10-16.

On Monday, they were in the same situation — the Fever led by four points with under five minutes left. That number changed to tied with two minutes left, then the Sun up by two points with 1:30 remaining in the game. The Fever were in the middle of what they struggled with last season. This time, though, they had some experience in how to close out these down-to-the-wire, close games.

In the final seconds, the Fever put Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Kristy Wallace and Temi Fagbenle on the court. Three of those players were on the roster last season, experiencing those close games for themselves. While Clark wasn’t, she had ample experience in high-stakes moments, and Fagbenle had asserted herself as the Fever’s defensive mastermind for Monday’s game.

A foul on Fagbenle, however, is what gave the Sun a two-point lead with 10.9 seconds left in the game. Sides challenged the ruling on the basis Connecticut’s Tyasha Harris wasn’t set for the screen, but it was unsuccessful.

Down two points, Boston went for a layup off of Clark’s inbound. It bounced off the front of the rim. Fagbenle fouled Alyssa Thomas to get the ball back, but the Fever didn’t have enough time to make up a four-point deficit in less than 10 seconds.

Caitlin Clark rolls ankle, returns to play

Around the five-minute mark of the second quarter, the Fever rookie rolled her ankle right before she took on a screen from Sun guard Brionna Jones.

Clark fell to the ground in pain as the play continued around her, which ended in a layup for Jones. The Fever took a timeout, and Clark got up from the floor with help of her teammates. She walked back to the locker room on her own, limping. At that point, she had eight points on 2-of-6 shooting.

But a twisted ankle wasn’t going to keep Clark down.

She quickly returned to the bench, although she didn’t play for the rest of the quarter. She was the first out for second half warmups and didn’t favor one leg or the other, and started the second half with the rest of the usual starters.

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Fever coach talks Caitlin Clark injury scare, Temi Fagbenle impact

The Indiana Fever dropped to 0-4 after a close loss to Connecticut, but showed signs of improvement.

Temi Fagbenle an X-factor off bench

Indiana has been looking for some defensive consistency in their game — especially after giving up 92 to Connecticut in the season-opener and 102 to New York in the home-opener.

The Fever may have found it in Fagbenle.

Fagbenle, who originally came to the Fever on a training camp contract, was indispensable for the Fever on Monday night. She was their defensive anchor, helping to get the Fever back into the game.

Fagbenle checked into the game when the Fever were down, 36-34, with five minutes left in the second quarter. She spurred the Fever on a 10-5 run to end the half for their first halftime lead of the season, 44-41.

With Fagbenle out of the game to start the third quarter, the Fever gave up 19 points in 5:19 and went down by nine. Fagbenle entered the game at the under-5 timeout, and the Fever allowed just four points for the rest of the quarter and cut the deficit to three.

Her athleticism ratcheted up the Fever’s rebounding totals, as she finished with a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

How many points did Caitlin Clark score?

Caitlin Clark scored 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting on Monday night. She went 3-of-7 from behind the arc, including her first logo 3.

Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.

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